Ducks on the Road, Stars on the Slide and a Classic in Calgary!

Frank Doyle previews the weekend action – Anaheim at Minnesota and Philadelphia at Carolina tonight, Dallas at Vancouver tomorrow and the Heritage Classic in Calgary on Sunday!

Ducks at Wild

What an extraordinary road record the Ducks are currently enjoying. They’ve won their last six road games, starting with a 4-3 shootout win at Montreal on January 22^nd. Bizarrely, they’ve lost both home games in that stretch, against San Jose and last Wednesday against Washington, but Anaheim’s back on the road tonight at Minnesota.

The Wild are in tenth place in the west and threatening for the playoffs, and have split two games against Anaheim already this season. Anaheim has never won at St Paul and are an NHL betting underdog tonight but, with the Ducks’ road record, you gotta wonder.

Flyers at Hurricanes

Carolina is fighting for a playoff berth, making the Flyers the very last team the ‘Canes want to see skating into Raleigh tonight. Carolina has an appalling home record against the Flyers, and hasn’t beaten them at home in six long years. Tonight would be a really good night to break that streak, but the reality is that the Flyers are 15-4-0 since January and are a deserved road favorite at Carolina tonight.

Stars at Canucks

Game of the day tomorrow is Dallas’ trip to Vancouver. Vancouver is the best team in hockey and has been the best team in hockey for some time. That’s not news. What is news that the Stars are no longer shining.

Dominant in the Pacific for the first half of the season, Dallas is now on the slide in an extremely competitive division. It’s lost three straight, is 3-7-1 over the last ten and has been bullied by Vancouver all season. They’ve played three times already and Dallas lost all three, 4-1, 7-1 and 4-1. Vancouver will be a warm, warm favorite on Saturday night.

The Heritage Classic: Habs at Flames

And on Sunday, it’s the Heritage Classic, when Montreal takes on Calgary at McMahon Stadium at the University of Calgary, home of the CFL’s Stampeders.

The fact that NHL is having a second outdoor game this year after the Winter Classic on New Year’s Day has generated some controversy but come on. Outdoor hockey is fun and good for the game, and neither of those can ever be bad things. Montreal and Calgary are both playing well,are in playoff contention, and it’ll be a good, exciting game that lets you bet on NHL hockey. What’s not to like?